The depths of Kindness and Light
by lyrl
Summary: "True courage stems from the awareness of fear, courage without fear is merely ignorance."  Just a heads up; this is not a fanfiction, but a character analysis revolving around KenXHikari. Food for thought for writers out there, hope you enjoy.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination. But I'm glad digimon is not mine, as it provides me with such a wondrous universe to spin tales around. **

**Note: If you haven't read the summary, this isn't a fanfiction. This is a fan analysis of the pairing between Ken and Hikari, and are opinions of mine deriving from multiple times of re-watching the original Japanese digimon02 and various fanfiction I've read. This might also appear to be rather pointless due to lack of organization, since I didn't initially plan for this to be posted.**

I guess it wasn't just the canon aspect of what it is that attracts me towards Kenkari. Sure, the connection they shared towards the dark ocean can prove to be really fascinating. Though, I feel myself being more motivated by the chemistry in their interactions; it's that kind of pairing that has something that can only be sparked off between the two of them (comparing to the usually more canon Takari and Daikari.)

Firstly, it is a pairing in which both parties are introverts, as opposed to Takari and Daikari; which is leaning towards an Extroverted/Introverted relationship in most cases. Well, for Takari's case, Hikari can be brought out to become an extroverted person (especially evident in the dub), even when she usually isn't when interacting with others. Each of the three pairings have unique quirks to them that the other pairings would not be able to bring out, and it just so happens that I'm more drawn to the I(ntroverted)/I and E(xtroverted)/E relationship as compared to the I/E one in here (a rare case for me, considering the pairings I'm commonly drawn to.) There is no right or wrong option to tell which pairing is better than the other; it all boils down to taste. (Like how I hate the smell of waffles and most freshly baked products when the whole world tends to think about how heavenly it smells (and tastes; I'm just neutral towards that.))

A few plot points which I like to use to my advantage when thinking up kenkari scenarios: Love triangles. Not the common kind that allows friendly competition between rivals against a common love; like it is for Takeru and Daisuke's case. In headcanon verse, both Ken and Hikari can be as physically and or mentally aware of each other's existence, and or even have mutual affections for each other; but neither would make a move. This is not just due to fact that they are both introverts; but the fact that both their best friends (of their respective genders) have all made it all so painfully obvious how much they like either of them (Daisuke towards Hikari, Miyako towards Ken. While Hikari's best friend would be Takeru in most situations, Hikari's best female friend would definitely be Miyako; and Daisuke and Ken are like the best of best friends forever if you could even call that a term.)

Both Hikari and Ken share a similar trait in relation to this; their kindness. Even though not as much as Ken's (considering his crest), one thing's for certain; they are both considerate people, to the point that they might even be considered as selfless. People like them would never consider putting their own happiness above others; much less trample on the other's happiness for their own. Therefore, being painfully aware of their best friend's affection for the each other; they are more likely to stay by their best friends on the sidelines; saying, "good luck Miyako/Daisuke, I'm sure Ken/Hikari will like this present you gave him/her!" than deciding to pursue each other in the spur of the moment. This makes it all very interesting; with some internal angst and drama brewing in their love life, the hurdle they had to overcome to be together is something that might turn out to be very guilt tripping, if the approval from both friends were not gained.

That or I'm just a sucker for love triangles; and torturing the characters.

Guilt inducing relationships aside; while we assume the logic that all is fair in love and war; the relationship between Ken and Hikari can be really interesting- interaction wise, as well. In the original Japanese version, I can envision their relationship to be really awkward, at least initially. There will be no charismatic Takeru around who always knew what to say to lift the atmosphere; or blabbering Daisuke whose mere existence itself can be considered pure entertainment. Hikari, for once, has to be the one to take the initiative, for I can see Ken being one to hesitate around a hundred times behind the gateway from brain to mouth before deciding what should be said without it being something stupid, or something awkward, or something Hikari wouldn't know how to continue. Hikari is a little more straightforward than that; at the very least, she's not one to hesitate when showing concern, while Ken is very keen on giving the other party the space and privacy they (or he thought they) need. He would hesitate to lend that shoulder when someone is crying, for example, not because he didn't want to help; but because he thought the person needed the space to be alone and showing concern, especially through actions would be bothering them.

For Ken, his worry would be: "In the instance where the moment I ask 'what's wrong?' more tears would start streaming down their faces." And if that happens he wouldn't know what to do, so he hesitates at the sidelines and never makes a move.

Ken has the ability to bring out one of the most prominent but often not required feature of Hikari's, her gentleness, and the ability to empathize and see through people as though the wall between them was made of glass. Why unneeded you ask? Because the majority of the people she hangs out with did not mask away themselves as much as Ken had, which makes her ability for great empathy rather redundant. As compared to Daisuke who shows his feelings as clear as day, and Takeru, even with a darker side to him, is her best friend whom he'll share the darkest of -whatever he wants to share- secrets with. Ken is not one to reveal his true nature, or issues, or troubles to others as readily as the other two; therefore Hikari's ability to read people easily with her strong intuition comes in handy for the chemistry between the two.

Miyako, despite loving Ken very much(no denying there), is one who speaks without filtering through her mind and can prove to be rather rude and intruding if the right choice of words is not used. (Though speaking up for Kenyako a bit, I'm pretty sure Ken is of a much more forgiving nature, so he wouldn't take harsh words by Miyako to heart.) Also, due to Miyako's more simplistic nature and mindset; even if she did get Ken to open up and speak his mind, she would only be able to grasp what he said in a superficial sense, only the gist of what was on the surface but never fully able to relate to what ken was saying. She just doesn't think or consider things like that, and while it could be an uplifting contrast to Ken's more gloomy personality, being with someone who can't really understand you can be hard; Especially during times when you're having emotional troubles, and you can only get over the problem on your own, because your other half does not understand the severity of the internal turmoil you're facing.

In contrast to the above, Hikari has a knack to read people through plain observation, from the expression of their faces, to little nuances like if the other is spacing out, or shifting uneasily, or any other little details that would escape most people. She can be rather forward when expressing concern, usually in a more positive light than Miyako, for her choice of words is usually less piercing. Once Ken opens up to her, she would be able to relate to him much better due to their nature being closer in terms of complexity, and understand his troubles—especially in relation to the dark ocean(haha I still said it), in a much more in-depth point of view than Miyako.

To Hikari, she is not hearing out his problem as an outsider, but as someone who has personally experienced similar situations first hand, and therefore they are able to face the problem together. Takeru is similar to Miyako in this sense; both are parties, who are desperately trying to understand Hikari and Ken when it comes to the Dark Ocean, but are unable, due to the lack of empathy on their parts for this situation. They can only view their situation from a third person point of view, while for ken and Hikari; well it's kind of like Titanic. It's either we live together or sink together (you jump, I jump? Lol), either their mutual understanding and or encouragement of each other gives them the courage to be free of the Ocean's calls altogether, or they both be consumed by the Ocean, which continues to thrive and feed on their negative emotions. While some might say their relationship is one that can get really depressing, and Hikari can never be as uplifting to Ken as Miyako is, nor can ken be as brave and protective of Hikari like how Takeru or Daisuke are; A phrase that I remember whose origins and original choice of words was forgotten by me, the gist of it was: "True courage stems from the awareness of fear, but still having the ability to overcome it." Hikari and ken are aware of the fear, and if they battle it and won, that is the courage they have gained. The courage Daisuke, Takeru and Miyako displays are of the ignorant nature. They are unaware of the dangers and fears the ocean invokes for Hikari and Ken, and can only attempt, but not really understand what they are afraid of. It's like back in the episode during adventure 01, when Taichi possessed the ignorant courage to go through the highly charged wired fence, not understanding how real the digital world is in relation to their lives; and the true courage he gained when he finally understood that he could have died going through that fence, but still did anyway for his friend in need. The difference between Daisuke, Takeru and Miyako with Ken and Hikari; is the lack of understanding and awareness towards that fear. In which case only Ken and Hikari could have understood each other, for in a twisted sense, they are the Ocean world's chosen children.

**I guess this kind of concludes my shipping analysis for Ken and Hikari. Like I mentioned, this is not really a fanfiction, it borders more on being like an essay than fanfic. Except no teacher will grade this due to their lack of understanding when it comes to digimon. I'm pretty sure I have more answers in my head to why I like this pairing, but I can't remember them at the moment. Yes I take pairings very seriously. I'm not really that good of a narrative writer as compared to many out there on ; and since my passion lies with drawing, my preferred method of conveying my fan-stories would be through the visual medium rather than words, though I really enjoy being a reader. Therefore I hope this would trigger a few Kenkari stories, especially ones outside the usual fluff. Somehow I just feel that not many people actually see Kenkari this way like I do. Maybe it could be due to the dub differences between Japanese and English versions. I grew up watching digimon in Chinese dub, which follows the Japanese ones very closely, the dub made the characters more cheerful , extroverted and not forgetting sarcastic than they were in the original. Not necessarily a bad thing especially in fanfiction, it makes them a much more humorous read. But I feel that a lot of the emotions that is conveyed in the original is lost through some of the cheesy jokes, especially those inserted inappropriately during serious moments; a decision by the dub producers to tone the show down. Anyway, in case of bashers; I ship Takari as well, Daikari to a certain degree and while I childishly disliked Kenyako in the past; I've grown to accept and like this pairing for what it is, and I acknowledge that the interactions between them can also be quite cute. Still, my love for Kenkari and Takari overwhelms it all, and I'm actually working on creating a digimon Otome game featuring Kenkari, Takari and Daikari, with hints of Kenyako involved. And before anyone asks, no it's no battle game, despite it being digimon; more like a dating sim game, middle school drama revolving around their love life. Seriously, we already have so many digimon battle orientated games, in the market, canon ones. Do we really need another one? Have some fresh air and visual fanfiction. **

**PS: Would love to know how you guys see this pairing, be it from the perspective of the dub or the original. Well written Kenkari dub fics usually portray the pairing in a wittier manner as compared to awkward, but I still love them either way. Therefore, please read and review! **


End file.
